Effective August 25, 2014: In order to earn and retain "Approved" status as an ASA
Official, persons must maintain and current ASA membership, attend an ASA Officials
Training Course at least once every 2 years and pass the course’s final written exam
with a 75 score or higher. Before any Approved official can work center mat at an
ASA sanctioned event, he/she will be required to shadow at least one event under
a senior ASA official. If an Approved official fails to meet these requirements every
two years, he/she will not be permitted to officiate at any ASA sanctioned event.

ASA REFEREES & OFFICIALS

ASA FREESTYLE SAMBO ™ RULES

REQUIRED UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT:

Freestyle Sambo competition uniform must consist of:

A red or blue Sambo Kurtka (please contact the event coordinator if you can't obtain
a kurtka)

Matching shorts, wrestling singlet, or strapless trunks

A solid red AND blue belt (no stripes, colors, or markings of any kind)

Sambofski (no wrestling shoes permitted)

Groin protector (optional)

Mouth piece (required)

Knee pads are optional

No t-shirts are to be worn beneath one's Kurtka or Gi in men's division. Rash guards
are permitted beneath the Kurtka (must be tight fitting and short sleeved).

AGE/DIVISIONS: (Depending on #of competitors, weight classes may be shuffled to
fill brackets)

Men’s/Women’s Division: Ages 18 — 35 yrs.

Senior Men’s/Women’s Division: 36+ yrs.

WEIGHT DIVISIONS (please note that as of 2013 the ASA has changed our weight divisions
to match International FIAS standards):

52kg (114.4lbs)

57kg (125.4lbs)

62kg (136.4lbs)

68kg (149.6lbs)

74kg (162.8lbs)

82kg (180.4lbs)

90kg (198lbs)

100kg (220lbs)

100+kg (250lbs)

Superheavyweight (+250lbs)

Women’s weight divisions will be based on tournament registrations at each event.

DURATION OF THE MATCH AND OTHER TIMING GUIDELINES:

B Division: 6 minutes (stop time)

A Division: 10 minutes (stop time)

Competitors will be given 60 seconds on the ground to execute a submission subsequent
to any takedown. If no submission is acquired, competitors will be stood up and re-started
in the center of the mat. The time clock will be stopped during any repositioning
of competitors, or at the referee's discretion. In the event of a tie, a sudden-death
overtime will be enacted. The winner will be determined by the first point scored.

WINNING THE MATCH:

Freestyle Sambo matches can be won by four possible outcomes:

1) Submission – A player must clearly tap multiple times or yell “STOP” in the event
of a submission. Single, soft taps will not stop a match.

2) There is NO Total Victory by throw (ippon).

3) Point differential at the end of match time or 15 point differential.

4) When the referee stops the match.

ILLEGAL TECHNIQUES:

In B Division:

Neck cranks (forearm/knee cross face to control a supine opponent on the ground is
legal if no direct pressure is on the nose)

Striking of any kind (Slamming to the back is not considered striking and is legal
from the guard only)

Disengaging after a throw to play points. After a throw or takedown, a player MUST
engage grappling.

Eye gouging/fish-hooking

Finger or direct pressure to the windpipe

Pulling or grabbing ears

Pulling hair

Finger or small joint manipulation

Biting

Scratching

Pinching

Use of Vaseline or other similar substances on body

Throws or spikes onto the head

Throws against any joint

Standing submissions - any submission in which one player is standing (submissions
may be set up while standing but, must be executed on the mat)

Gripping inside your opponent's sleeve (a player may grip inside his/her own sleeve
to secure a choke or submission)

Wrist locks

Gripping the skirt of the kurtka or tails of the belt

Using an untied belt for a submission or to wrap your opponent’s body or limb

In A Division:

Direct pressure to the nose

Striking of any kind (Slamming to the back is not considered striking and is legal
from the guard)

Eye gouging/fish-hooking

Finger or direct pressure to the windpipe

Disengaging after a throw to play points. After a throw or takedown, a player MUST
engage grappling.

Pulling or grabbing ears

Pulling hair

Finger or small joint manipulation

Biting

Scratching

Pinching

Use of Vaseline or other similar substances on body

Throws or spikes onto the head

Throws against any joint

Standing submissions - any submission in which one player is standing (submissions
may be set up while standing but, must be executed on the mat)

Gripping inside your opponent's sleeve (a player may grip inside his/her own sleeve
to secure a choke or submission)

Gripping the skirt of the kurtka or tails of the belt

Using an untied belt for a submission or to wrap your opponent’s body or limb

LEGAL TECHNIQUES:

All submissions using or not using the Kurtka except those mentioned in the Illegal
Techniques section (in A Division, heel hooks and neck cranks MUST be applied slowly
and without sudden force. Malicious application of any submission can lead to a disqualification.)

All throws or takedowns not mentioned in the Illegal Techniques section

REFEREE INTERVENTION GUIDELINES:

The referee IS REQUIRED to stop any match at any time if he/she feels any fighter
is in danger of serious injury.

The referee is at liberty to pause the match at any time and request examination
of any competitor by the event EMT or Doctor. If the match is paused for a medical
concern about a player, the maximum time allowed will be three minutes for the doctor
to examine the player or for the player to recover from an injury. If after three
minutes the doctor/EMT is not finished, the injured player can't continue, and the
injury did not occur as a result of a flagrant illegal technique; the uninjured player
will be declared winner.

The referee WILL stop the match and reposition the competitors standing in the center
of the ring when one or both competitors are considered out-of-bounds - No Exceptions:

Out-of-bounds for standing competitors is when ANY two feet are outside the identified
boundaries.

Out-of-bounds for grappling competitors is when more than half of their COLLECTIVE
BODY is outside the identified boundaries.

The referee will stop the match and re-position the competitors standing in the event
one of the following escapes occur:

A player stands completely erect and completely lifts his/her opponent of the ground
during an armbar or triangle attempt.

A player stands in an erect, balanced position of control over his/her opponent during
an ankle lock attempt.

If jumping guard, flying arm bar, flying triangle does not result in bringing the
defender to his knees, action will be stopped and both players will be repositioned
standing.

The referee is at liberty to eject belligerent coaches or teammates from the mat
area or arena.

The referee is at liberty to stop grappling and reposition the competitors standing
in the event of inactivity or stalling.

The referee is required to enforce all point awards in accordance with the rules.

POINT SCORING:

In the event a match is not won by submission, the following point system has been
designed to award to competitors for standing and ground Dominance. Dominance is
defined as: The ability to use technical skill and movement, standing and on the
ground, in order to manipulate and control the opponent's actions for the goal of
acquiring a throw or submission.

The following points will be awarded for throws/takedowns:

3 points: Any throws/takedowns in which the attacker remains on both feet during
the execution of the throw. An attacker may land on the mat with his opponent. (hip
throw, shoulder throw, fireman carry, pick-ups, sweeps where attacker remains standing,
etc).

2 points: Any throw/takedown in which the attacker drops to one or both knees in
order to execute the throw (drop shoulder throws, single legs from the knee, kneeling
hooks/trips, etc).

1 point: Any sacrificial throw/takedown in which the attacker intentionally lands
on his back (sacrifice throw, pancakes, trips and sweeps which involve sacrificial
falls, etc). No points are awarded for pulling guard.

1 point: Awarded to any defender who clearly reverses a throw landing in a sustained
top position upon the attacker.

The following points will be awarded for ground performance and can only be scored
once per match: Points are not awarded in correlation to any particular ground position,
pass, sweep, or submission attempt - only for maintenance of a pin.

3 points: Awarded to any competitor who maintains a pin from top control for 20 seconds
(excluding guard and ½ guard). The pin begins once both shoulders of the athlete
being pinned touch the mat. From that point on, a pin will continue to be scored
as long as the pinned athlete's shoulders do not pass 90 degrees from the mat. Positional
changes during a pin are legal as long as the pinned opponent's shoulders do not
pass 90 degrees from the mat.

WARNINGS:

Competitors will only be allowed 2 warnings. At the SECOND warning, 2 points will
be deducted. A third warning is a DQ.

Warnings will be issued for any behavior conflicting with the above stated rules.

Warnings for stalling may include inactivity during stand up or mat activity. For
example - intentionally evacuating the mat during grappling to escape a submission,
failure to engage gripping while standing, or any behavior which the referee determines
an intentional delay of action.)

A fighter CAN receive warnings for the belligerent behavior of his or her coach.

- Malicious or uncontrolled application of any submission can lead to a disqualification.

I have taken part in many coaching and refereeing courses in the past with Wrestling
Canada, the governing body of amateur wrestling in Canada and can honestly say that
the ASA Referee course was right along those lines. Same professionalism and coherence.The
entire course was well constructed and presented. It gave all attendees a better
understanding of the rules of Sambo and a better appreciation for it’s referees.
I highly recommend the course to anyone interested in refereeing Sambo or any other
grappling art.

- Kris Iatskevich, Montreal, Canada

I enjoyed the course for many reasons: The two day format was a good idea. The first
day of refereeing was a well constructed class. The basic were well explained before
demonstrating and showing practically the core of the subject. Good examples were
given. Stephen Koepfer showed a great mastery of the sport and great teaching skills
and methodology. He was open to questions and left none unanswered. The second day
was also great. The orientation of the class was not only toward good techniques,
but also on SKILL development. Steve showed patience and a whole comprehension of
what he practices. The choice of techniques were coherent and appropriate for the
class. As a inexperienced Sambist but experienced martial artist and police officer,
I highly recommend that two day course.